Over the years, I've found a number of tools and services that I've incorporated into my business that really help me get my message "out there" and run my business more effectively. I use a lot of audio in my business and I'm often asked what some of my favorite tools are. Today, I'll tell you about a secret weapon that I've been using for years and how it could benefit your business! The … [Read more...]
Strategies for Automating Some (Hopefully not All) of Your Social Media Content
I have been talking with people about social media a lot lately. There is a lot of confusion and frustration about what to do and what not to do when it comes to social media. Recently, I participated in Michele Price's #SpeakChat on Twitter. The topic was on the social media mistakes that speakers make. While Michele focuses on speakers in her chat, the tips she shared are … [Read more...]
60 Second Trick That Will Make It Easy For Your Prospects to Contact You
Sometimes a very simple tweak can make a huge impact for you and your prospects. Have you ever had this happen? You read an email from someone that really impresses you. You are inspired to take action right away and then you realize that the email does not include contact information. You don't have the desire to go to their site to look it up, so you put it off until later. Don't let this … [Read more...]
What is Your 1400 Plan? Don’t Have My Tragedy!
I've mentioned before that prior to founding Calahan Solutions, Inc., I worked for a large consulting firm in the Chicago area. As I look back at those days, of course, I miss the people I worked with, but in my business I miss 1400. Do you have a 1400? I really wanted one these past few weeks. Back then, any technical problem that I had -- phone, computer, palm pilot (remember, there weren't … [Read more...]
Creative Uses for 3M Post It Notes
Creativity with post-it notes has been happening for quite a while. In fact, the history of the 3M sticky note is that it is an adhesive experiment gone bad. After Mr. Silver created the weak adhesive, it took him years to figure out how to use it, but today many of us glad that he did! His creativity in inventing the first set of little yellow sticky pads has allowed us to use our creativity in … [Read more...]
It is Easy to Answer “Where Does My Time Go” with Chrometa – Interview CEO @BrettOwens
The question of "Where in the world does my time really go?" is often asked by frustrated business owners. You work hard and it seems that there are never enough hours in a day. This gets even more complex if your business uses time tracking to bill clients. I remember the first time I was told I needed to track my time in 15 minute increments - we called them units. It was back … [Read more...]
Tracking How to Get It All Done & Avoid Information Overload-Interview With @Springpad CEO @jeffjaner
Information Overload is a topic that comes up frequently when I talk with people about what holds their productivity back. Many people have become "information junkies" collecting all kinds of information but not having it in a format that makes it usable. Jeff Janer and his team at Spring Partners saw that coming a few years ago and developed a great tool called Springpad. Today I talk with … [Read more...]
Best Business Technology for Small Businesses & Their Owners (28 ideas from them to you!)
"Stephanie you are such a geek." That is what I heard from her as we were talking on the phone. OK! I'll own that. I like to share various tools that help to make you more productive. I laughed, and that statement led us to an interesting conversation about technology and how much or how little different people use of it in their business life. Even if you are not the most technical person on … [Read more...]
How to Get Your Blog on the Amazon Kindle
One of the reasons that I can get so much done in my business and in life is because I like things that are easy to implement and this is certainly one of them. One of the best ways to market on the internet is to re-purpose your content. Why spend time crafting something to only use it once?! The most productive marketers know how to get leverage off of their time. The Amazon Kindle is one of … [Read more...]
19 Tips for Managing Your Email Even When You Don’t Want To
E-mail is the form of communication that we love to hate and love to love. For many, it is an addiction. Still, others get completely overwhelmed with the information drowning their in-boxes on a daily basis. It is a communication tool that has been around for decades and it does not look like it is going away any time soon. It is also one of the biggest TIME HOGS in business today. Multiple … [Read more...]